Rotary gas and oil separator



odi.` 8, 1940. E W DODGE v 2,216,939

ROTARY GAS AND OIL sEPA'RAToR Filed Feb. 18, 1.939 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 /f Z? Zw Z I 2a wf 20 7 i pfff as; 0:2

. l 2 fa-fwf/baf OCI. 8,` 1940.. 'E' w DODGE 2,216,939

ROTARY GAS AND OIL SEPARATOR 4Filed Feb. 18, 1959 s sheets-sheet 2 Oct. 8, 1940. E. w. DODGE 2,216,939

ROTRY GAS AND OIL SVE-PARATOR Filed Feb. 1 8, 1939 :s sheets-sheet s Patented Oct. 8, 1940 UNITED STATESv PATENT OFFICE 2,216,939 ROTARY GAS AND OIL SEPARATOR Eugene W. Dodge!l Shatter, Calif. Application February 18, 1939, Serial No. 257,068

the proportion of oil is very'large compared with l the gas there is practically always a certain content of gas which becomes liberated at the reduced pressure ofV atmosphere or approximating, such. pressure at the top of the well. Such gas and oil must be separated. In the so-called'gas n wells in which the main portion of the flow from.

the well is agas there is practically aiways`a certain oil content carriedby the gas which must be separated therefrom. Manifestly there are both pumped and flowing wells in which the 20 proportion of oil to gas varies through a considerable range for which many types of separating apparatus including scrubbers have been used to obtain the separation.

A main object and feature of my invention is a rotary gas and oil separator and a method of separatlngin which the flow of the gas and oil from the well drives or u operates in Irotation a rotary type of separator. This separator has an initial action of extracting the oil which is of greater specific gravity than the gas from the mixture by a centrifugalaction, a large portion of the oil being thrown outwardly by a centrifugal force developed on the rotor which is driven lby the incoming flow of g'as and oil. This oil is f" discharged onto .a suitable surface and drips downwardly into a receiving tank or receptacle;

As the gas is lighter than the oil. it has a natural upward ow. v

However the upwardly flowing gas contains in nearly all cases oilwhich must be separated vfrom the gas, In the first procedure. my invention incorporates and contemplates a series of gas actuated impellers which give additional force in impellers are operative to the continuous upward motion of the gas. An initial scrubbing action on the gas isy produced bya-series o f bailles attached to the vanes of the gas impeller which 50 functionfto collect the oil in the gas, thus reducing the oil content considerably below that of the entrance of oil into the gas portion of the rotor.

In this gas portion of the rotor the gasand the y oil are prevented from flowing outwardly by' centrifugal action. the baiiil'es or fins connected with operating the rotor in its rotation and alsovsuch (criss-2.1i

and mounted' on the vanes'of the channels for the flow of the oil.

Another characteristic of my'invention as it relates to the gas actuated impeller resides in gas rotor form having the ilns connected to the vanes slightly shorter than such vanes, the vanes being connected at their outer edge to the cylindrical shell of this gas impeller but the fins being slightly shorter so that some of the oil trapped by the against the spinning shell and ows downwardly v mixing with the oil thrown outwardly by the oil actuated impeller blades. The hollow shaft also is provided with perforations so `that some e of the oil enters into such hollow shaft and flows downwardly. .y

In the operation of my separator, due to the gas expanding its upward flow through the gasactuated impeller and in the upper part of the housing or casing there is adiierential gas pressure in the lower part of the casing immediately above the deected oil and the upper part of the casing, the pressure at the lower portion being lower, .therefore causing a positive suction action on the inflow of oil to the hollow shaft and thence downwardly to the bottom. Some of the gas ls' likewise conducted downwardly but this again escapes at Vthe bottom of the shaft and develops an upward ilow.

Another important feature and characteristic of my invention is a rotary scrubber mounted on the hollow yvertical shaft above the gas driven impeller. This is made in the form of a relatively thin hollow helix having a` diametrical spread" from theA surface ofthe hollow shaft to slightly under the diameterof the casing. ,0n this hollow Ahelix I provide scrubber ribs which are tangential to the hollow shaft and curved at their outer portions in the direction of travel therefore operating somewhat as scoops. Along each rib o there are a series of perforations leading to the hollow helix and also the hollow shaft has perforations at the inner end of each rib and also from the hollow space of the helix.' The helix 'may be arranged either to aid the upward fiow 45 of the gas. that is, having an upward threading action on the ilow of the gas or be opposed thereto, depending upon the type of oil and gas mixture of the well. 'I'he oil trapped by the scrubbers and inside of the helix ows intov the hollow shaft and downwardly to the reservoir at the bottom of the housing. 'I'hehollow shaft is pro-- vided with a partition and gas outlets thereabove for the discharge of theaccumulated gas.

vAnother characteristic of my invention is formf ns is thrown; outwardly by,centrifugai action l ing the shaft for the rotor of a. tube'and mounting. this in bearings so that the shaft is vertical and the rotor thus rotates on a vertical axis. For this purpose I provide a suitable thrust bearing at the bottom of the hollow shaft and suitable steadying journals at the top. The rotor may 4thus spin quite freely, rotating the vertical tubular shaft.

Another feature of myinvention is a control device or regulator with the speed of rotation or the rotor. Due to the fact that oil containing gas or gas containing a large proportion of oil may enter the rotor through a large range of pressures and velocities, it is necessary to control the speed of the r'otor. "This is done by a manually actuated brake operating on the hollow rotor shaft. Should the rotor turn at too high a speed the fact that the gas and oil entering the sepa- Arator usually at a high pressure and high velocity,

considerable power may be developed having the .impeller blades actuated by theoil and the impeller vanes actuated by the gas function in the manner of turbine blades. The power take-off is preferably by a shaft which may be connected to the partition in the hollow shaft and extend upwardly through suitable stumng boxes yfor a power take-oil means on the exterior of the construction. This power may be utilized to drive various equipment used in connection with the oil and gas treatment, an important characteristic however being that it may operate with its load principally as a brake and thereby relieve the manually actuated brake operating in the housing from excess, braking resistance. A further detailed feature of my invention is a float valve control for the discharge of oil as it accumulates, the pivoted iloat being mounted'on a large hand hole cover construction by which access may be had to the interior parts of the gas and oil separator or in large sizes this may be sufiiciently large to form a man-hole.'

` My invention is illustrated in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section through the gas and oil separator and may be considered as taken on the section line I I of Fig. 3 in the direction of the arrows asto the casing. th`housing for the rotor and' other associated parts, the rotor being shown in elevationpartly broken away and the scrubber in' elevation with certain other parts in broken sections.

Fig. 2 is a bottom View taken in the direction of the arrows2 of Fig. 1` illustrating in particular a bottom view of the brake to control the speed of the rotor.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1 in the direction of the arrows partly broken away.

Fig. 4 is an elevation taken in the direction of the arrow l of Fig. 5 illustrating a simple impeller unit including the bucket i'or the impeller action of the oil and a vane for .the impeller action of the gas. For sake of clarity this ligure omits the circular series of the impeller structures.

Fig. 5 is .a horizontal section on the lineI-S of Fig. 4 in the direction of the arrows illustrating aiaesa only one of the impeller units and showing parof Fig. 4 in the direction ofthe arrows illustrat-4 ing particularly a single impeller bucket vdriven by the oil.

Fig. 7 is a horizontal section on the line 1 1 of Fig. 1 in the direction ofthe arrows presenting a plan of the helical scrubber.

Fig. 8 is a vertical section through the scrubber and may be considered as taken on the section line 8 8 of Fig. 7 in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 9 is a detail section on the line 8 9 of Fig. 'l illustrating the scoop type of ribs on the hollow scrubber helix.

Fig. 10 is a section similar to Fig. l being a continuation of the gas discharge connection illustrating the exterior power take-oil device.

In my invention I employ a suitable housing or casing structure I I. 'I'his is illustrated as having cylindrical side walls I2 with the lower edge I3 resting on a iloor or similar supporting structure and having a disk-like top I4. An inverted dome shaped bottom I5 has a sand drain-out opening I6 normally closed by a plug. At one side I provide'a saddle I1 forming an oil outlet I8 to which is connected an oil discharge pipe I8. The fiat top I4 has a relatively large central'opening 20 with a disk 2I welded inside of the flat top, vsuch disk having,l an opening, a combination pipe coupling and outside ball racestructure 22 has its lower ilange welded to the top I 4. A removable packing gasket 23' its on the plate 2|, an anti-friction roller bearing 24 with a suitable frame is located inside of the cylindrical section 25 of the combination fitting and outer race of the roller bearing.

The roller bearing centers a.

hollow shaft hereunder described. A' packing gasket 20 is litted on the upper flange 21, this gasket having a hub 28 forming of the cylindrical portion`2l and confining the anti-friction bearing at its upperend. A takeotr pipe 29 is bolted to the iiange 21 through the gasket 26. This pipe fitting is" illustrated in the form of an elbow Il, note Fig. 10 having a flange 2| to which a gas pipe may be connected. The upper end of the elbow is provided with an openling 32 and a recess' 22 in which is iltted a packing and a packing gland 34 for a power shaft takeoff hereunder described.

Positioned inside the housing andrigidly connected thereto I provide a rotor .casing or housing 35. This has a cylindrical side wall 2l connected to the inside oi' the casing wall I2 by spacer lugs 31 preferably arranged tol form 'one or. more helices and located 'in the annular space 2l be-v tween the outside 'casing I2 and the cylindrical wall 26 of the rotor casing., At the top bi' the rotor casing I provide an inturned iiange 20. Also secured to the bottom of the rotor casing wall I provide a` downwardly coned deiiector 4l. An

snug t inside inflow pipe II for the oil and gas preferably enters the wall l2 of the housingthrough an4 opening l2 at an angle as indicated by Fig. 3 so that the direction oi flow of the oil and gas is substantially tangential tothe periphery ofthe vanes and buckets of the rotor hereunder described. Inside of the housing I I and below the rotor hous- .ing I employ an annular splash plate 45 'having a sexies of drain perforations I8. A lower journal and thrust bearing assembly B0 for the rotor employs a spider II with radial arms secured as by welding to the inside of the casing wall I2. This has a central hub 52 forming a stationary race for a roller bearing 53 which has the upper 'race 54 operating thereon and covered by a cover 26. A series of upper perforations 62 are for the inflow of gas to this hollow shaft. A transverse closure parti-tion 63 separates the upper and. lower parts of the. pipe, this plate being provided with a threaded socket 64 in which may be inserted a screw eye or the like for lifting the rotor. It is .preferable to havel the top |4 removable by providing a joint 65with a weld 66 which may readily be finished in the assembly and cut when it is necessary to disassemble the. lequipment. The shaft 60 extends downwardly and is provided with a reduced bearing end 61 on which is mounted the inner race 54 of a thrust bearing having the stationary race 52 and the rollers 53. Below the reduced section 6'1 forming the bearing the hollow shaft has an outside surface 68 for application of the brakes and if desi'red this may have aI collar @attached thereto. The lower end 69 is opened for discharge of oil.

The rotor assembly 80 includes aseries of impeller 'buckets 8| located to be acted upon by the injected oil containing gas, see Fig. 4. These also receive the full impact of the inflowing mixture no matter what degrees 0f mixture of oil and gas which usually is forced in under high pressure and high velocity of travel and being usually in the form of a mist or foam. 4The individual buckets have an inner edge 82 which conforms to a helical line extending longitudinally of the rotor pipe 60, thus-,the upper-corner 83 is at a relatively high "position and the lower corner 84 at a relatively f low position on the hollow shaft. The pitch is preferablyv very steep.` 'I'he individual buckets have their outer peripheral edge 85 each forming a segment of a cylinderpf materially less diameter than the inside of the/ifotpr casing 36 to allow suiilcient space for the dwriward flow and drip of the oil discharged by centrifugal force as hereunder detailed. Each of the buckets may be considered as having a concave curve or bucket section indicated at 86 between the inner edge 82 and the upperedge 81 for a ptn-pose hereunder detailed but the lower edge 88'inay be at right angles to the center line of the indivA dual bucket.

By this construction the buckets h lvea radial measurement defined by the measurement line 89 (Fig. 6) very much greater than the radius of the shaft 60 so that each bucket provides a large area between the rotary shaft and their outer periphery for the impelling action of the incoming oily and gas. A band 90 bindsthe lower outer edges of the impeller buckets 8|.

The upper or gas actuated part of the rotor designated |00 emp1oys a cylindrical shell |0|, the outside of which is spaced slightly from the inside of the stationary rotor -housing 36, this space being sufficient to provide for an outwardly pressed helical thread |02 of which there may be one or more, the outside of the thread being quite close to the casing wall 36. A series of gas actu- .ated impeller vanes |05, note particularly Figs. 4 and 5, have their inner edge |06 secured to and welded to the hollow shaft'80. 'Iheir outer edge |01 is secured to the shell |0| and thus such outer edges of each vane forms a portion of a cylinder.

'I'he lower end portion |08 of each vane ycontacts the beveled upper edge 81 of the impeller buckets 8| and is preferably welded thereto. The upper Adjacent the connecting points of these ns, the rotor shaft 60 is provided with perforations ||8 above the vanes ||91below the vanes for the inflow of oil to the hollow pipe 60, whence such oil may dripdownwardly and be discharged through the lower open end 69.

A scrubber assembly |25, note particularly Figs. 1, '1, 8' and 9 has a wide helix |26 formed by a lower helically turned plate |21 and an upper helically turned plate |28, these being each welded as indicated at |29 to the hollow face 60 and having their outer edges also welded as indicated at |30.` 'I'he helix is indicated as terminating at a weldededge |3| at both its lower and upper ends, the edges of the upper and lower plates being drawn together at the terminal end. The helix is provided with a plurality of ribs |32, note particularly Figs. 1, '1 and 9, the fins preferably having a slope in reference to the upper plate of the helix. They have their inner ends |33 tangential to the hollow shaft 60 and secured thereto with a concave curve asindicated at |34 on the forward side, the direction of rotation being indicated by the arrow |35 of Fig. 1. 'Ihere are a series of perforations |36 adjacent the forward side of each rib and if desired there may be ribs von the lower side of the scrubber but as a rule these are not necessary. There are one or more ports |38 leading from the hollow space |39 of the helix to the hollow shaft 60 for drainage of n oil. As above mentioned, the helix may be ar- The brake assembly |40, note Figs. 1 and 2, em-

ploys two brake shoes |4| and |42 connected by a pivot bolt |42' which bolt is secured to the underside of the hub 52 or to--one of the arms of the spider 5|. Confined in the shoes are two brake linings |43 and |44 having slots |45 therethrough through which extend supporting bolts |46 also threaded into the hub 52 or the spiders 5|. "I'he lining is held in place in the shoes by radial bolts |41, the shoes having thev respective lugs |48 arid |49, the latter being internally threaded. A brake operating shaft |55 extends through a packing |56 in the wall I2 of the casing and has-a finger grip head |51. A flexible or universal joint |58 is incorporated in the rod. On the rod there is an abutment collar |59 which engages the lug |48, the end portion |60 is threaded engaging the internal threads of the lug |49 and a compression spring |6| coiled around the rod exerts an outward thrust on the lugs and hence tends to open or spread apart the brake shoes and lining thus releasing the brake from application to the brake surface 68 of the tubular shaft 60. Rotation of the finger grip head |51 thus is operative to tighten or loosen the brakes and thus regulate the rate of rotation of the rotor and hence of the scrubber.

'I'he power take-'off designatedrgenerally by the assembly numeral |10, note particularly Figs. 1 and 10, which has a shaft |1| with the lower end screw threaded in the threaded socket 64 of the closure partition 63 of the hollow shaft 60.

This shaft |1| extends upwardly through the.

opening 32, the recess 33 and the packing and lpacking gland 34. In the illustration this is proi8, this being operated by a link |82 having the turn-buckle |83, the link being reciprocated by a lever arm |84 connected to a rock shaft |85. This rock shaft is journalled in a hand-hole cap |86 which is mounted on the hand-hole saddle |81 secured to the wall I2 of the cylindrical housing there being a large opening |88 through which passes the float operated arm |89 which has a float |90 attached thereto. In order to divert the drip of oil directly from the oat, a flared skirt |95 is attached to the central hub 52 above the mechanical brake |40, such skirt having a slot |86 in which operates the arm |88.

'Ihe manner of operation and functioning of my invention as so far described is siibstantially as follows: Presuming the rotary gas and oil Separator is operating on oil charged to a lesser or greater degree with gas which as above mentioned flows under high pressure in the form of mist or foam or if it is operating on a gas well in which the proportion of oil may be -much less than that of the gas, nevertheless the fluid first reacts against the buckets 8| of the rotor assembly 80. 'I'his rotates the whole or the rotor struc-= ture, the shaft 60 being journalled as above described with a thrust bearing at the bottom on which it may spin quite freely and the upper guide bearing at the top. At the moment of impinging of the uid on the buckets the liquid is immediately separated from the oil much in the same manner as paint is separated from the air blast in a paint spraying equipment. Thus the gas is immediately broken -loose or separated fr'om the oil which latter forms into drops of varying sizes or a film of oil. The major portion of the oil collecting on the buckets is forced outwardly over the forward surface of the buckets by the centrifugal action and discharged over the outer edge 85 impinging on the rotor casing 36 and thus flowing downwardly and being diverted inwardly by the coned deiiector 40. In addition a certain amount of the oil ows downwardly in the buckets and is discharged downwardly and also outwardly by the centrifugal force at the lower edge 8 8 of the buckets, this again either being diverted inwardly by the deflector 40 or being discharged directly downwardly. .The cover plate 55 prevents the oil entering the thrust bearing which is lubricated by arg-rease duct |60 which extends outwardly through the wall |2 and has a usual type of grease fitting at its outer end.

The major portion of the gas being of lesser specic -gr'avity has a natural upward ilow and this together with the circumferential reaction of the gas on the rotor |00 gives an additional driving force to the rotor as a whole and to the shaft |60. The gas impinges directly on the vanes |05 and the fin assembly |5 having the individual upper and lower n strip ||6 and` |1.

These strips are spaced from the shell |0| at their outer ends and therefore a certain amount of the oil trapped by the fins is forced outwardly against the inside of the rotor shell |0| and drips downwardly. In addition due to the decreased pressure in'the shaft 60, some of the oil is carried through the perforations ||8 and ||8 and hence drips downwardly through the pipe. In view of the fact that a certain amount of the gas may work upwardly on the outside of the shell |0| in the annular space between such shell and the rotor casing 36, this space should be made as small as possible and in addition the helical threads |02 restrict the flow of the gas and permit a more thorough separation of the oil from the gas. C

Manifestly some of the gas which with the oil impinges on the buckets 8| of the rotor assembly will be carried downwardly and also will be diverted outwardly by the centrifugal action. This gas therefore flows into the space below the def-lector 40. Such gas flows over the top of the fixed splash plate 45, curls underneath the lower edge of the rotor casing 36 and has an upward flow in the annular space 35. As above mentioned this space has a number of spacer lugs 31 which are so arranged as to form a series of helices, thus giving the oil a circular as well as an upward travel and allowing separation of oil which drops downwardly either in the form of a film on .the inside of the wall |2 or the outside of the casing 36. Such oil collects on the upper side of the splash plate 45 and drains through the perforations 46 into the lower portion or the oil receptacle in the bottom of the housing.

'I'he scrubber |25 performs an important function in 'a nal separation of the oil and gas and as above mentioned, this may have the wide helix |26 arranged to aid the upward movement of the gas or to retard this, depending upon whether the thread may be considered a left or right in relation to the shaft 60. The ribs |32 in sweeping through the flowing gas cause a trapping of a cert-ain amount of the oil a good deal of which passes downwardly through the perforations |36 into the hollow space |38 between the lower and upper plates |21 and |28 of the helix. The oil trapped in the hollow space |39 drains through perforations |38 into the hollow shaft. Therefore at the top of the housing or casing there is an upward ow of relatively clean and dry gas which has its exit through the ports 62 ofthe hollow shaft above the partition 63. This gas ows outwardly through the pipe fitting indicated as the elbow Manifestly the power shaft |10 interferes but little with the outward flow of the gas. The float control valve assembly having the valve |8| regulates the height of the oil in the housing or casing and keepslthis at a substantially con- Any sand or sediment that collects Stant level. in the bottom of the housing may be drained through the drain-out opening I6.

It is obvious and manifest that for different sized gas and oil separators the relative dimensionsuland relative sizes of the various elements may be materially changed. It would also be desirable in large size machines or where a more even distribution of the torque is desired to have more than one gas and oil intake such as the inflow pipe 4|, however the inflow pipe should discharge the inilowing oil and gas in Aa tangential manner as to the rotor.

It will be seen from the above description of the gas and oil separator that my invention inhollow pipe GIL ,As above mentioned the gas amount of the gas.

volves not only the apparatus but the method in which the pressure and flow of the oil mixed with the oil and gas develops a rotary motion of the mixture of oil and gas and causes a first separation of the oil by centrifugal action and then a downward dripping of the oil by gravity. Further there is an upward iiow of the gas due vto its lighter specicgravity and again this gas develops a centrifugal flow of the gas with the oil trapped therein and in this procedure there is a further A`centrifugal separation of the oil from the gas. 'I'he further upiiow of the gas acts over-a surface in which particles of the oil are trapped and caused to iiow downwardly in a confined channell due to the differential gas pressure between the bottom and the top of the pressure is higher at the upper part of the casing than in the lower part immediately above the oil level, thus causing adownward movement of the trapped ollas well as possibly a small While I have described my invention as de signed especially for the treatment of petroleum oils in which the oil contains varying proportionsfoi' gas or in4 which gas derived from a well has such a content oi' oil that it is desirable to separate the o'il and gas, however it is to be uno'r other minute solids carried by l extracted with the water or other liquid.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as deiined by the ap, pended claims.

I claim:

l. In a rotary gas and oil separator, the com- L. bination of a closed housing having an outlet for gas and oil positioned above the oil receptacle, a

gas at the top, an oil receiving receptacle adia. cent the bottom and an intake for a mixture of vertically mounted rotor -assembly having impeller'buckts positioned to receive the impact of intake oil and gas and to be rotated thereby, there being a space between the periphery ofthe buckets and the housing, the said buckets being constructed and adapted to discharge oil outwardly by centrifugal force to said spaces, a gasv actuated rotor mounted on the same axis as the oil impelled rotor, such gas rotor having a cylindrical shell and a Vseries of vanes, the vanes Abeing positionedv to receive the impact ilowof l gas separated from the oil and to be drivenby such flow of gas,'there being a space above the said vanes for the upward flow of gas.

2. A gas and oil separator comprising in combination a housing having a top with a gasnoutlet, the bottom-portion forming an oil receptaclewith an oil outlet combined with a. stationary rotor casing spaced from the housing, a vertical tubular shaft mounted in and] extending vertically through the said casing, an intake for flow of a mixture of oil and gas connected through the said housing into the casing, a rst rotor having impellerbuckets connected to the shaft,

` there being a space between the periphery of the buckets and the casing and below the bot- 1' tom of the buckets for the discharge of oil by the air are centrifugal force and by gravity, and there being a space above the buckets for the upward iiow of gas, a second rotor having gas impelled vanes connected to the tubular shaft and a cylindrical shell attached 'to the peripheral edge of the said vanes, the vanes being positioned to receive the impart of gas `\discharged from the inow of oil and gas and also vthe gas iiowing upwardly from the iirst rotor, there being an annular space between the shell of the second rotor and the rotor casing, said rotor casing having an opening at the top for the upward iiow of gas.

3. A gas and oil separator comprising in combination a housing having a'top with a gas outlet, the bottom portion forming an oil recepta-V cle'with an oil outlet combined with a stationary rotor casing spaced from the housing, a vertical tubular shaft mounted in and extending vertically through the said casing, an intake for' of the buckets and the casing and below the bottom of the buckets for the. discharge of oil by centrifugal force and by'gravity, and there .being a space above the buckets for the 'upward ow of gas, a scrubber assembly including a re1- atively wide diameter free edged helix secured to the said shaft and positioned above the rotor in the stream of the upwardly yflowing gas,v

the scrubber having means tol separatoii; and gas, and perforations in the tubularlshaft yto receiveoil separated by the scrubber.

4. A gas and oil separator comprising in com- I bination a housing having a top with a gas outlet, the'bottom portion forming an oil receptacle witli an oil`out1et combined with a stationary rotor casing spaced from the housing, a vertical tubular shaft mounted in and extending vertically through the said casing, an intake for ow of a mixture of oil and gas connected through the said housing into the casing, a rst rotor having impeller buckets connected to the shaft, there being a space between the periphery of the buckets and the casing and below the bottom of the buckets for the discharge of oil by centrifugal force and by gravity, and there being a space above the buckets for the upward ow of gas,

fthe outlet for the gas including an upward pipe extension of the hollow shaft, there being a partition in the shaft with an opening thereabove forming the gas outlet means connecting through the upper end of the pipe above said partition,

- an upper bearing being located labove the top,` of

combination of impeller means mounted on the shaft and positioned to receive the impact iiow of the oil and gas mixture'and thereby form a rotor rotating the impellers and the said shaft, the impellers being'constructed and adapted for the separation of gas and oil and there being a space between the periphery of the impeller means and the housing for discharge of oil 'by centriiugal.force, there .being clear spaces -Ior the downward flow of oil and the upward flow of gas, a scrubber assembly including a relatively wide diameter free edged helix constructed with upper and lower plates connected together at their peripheral edges and secured to the hollow shaft in ta spaced relation thereby forming a hollow space inside of the helix, the helix having a plurality of ribs on the upper surface together with perforations leading to the hollow space of the helix, there being further perforations in the hollow shaft leading from the hollow space of the helix to such shaft, the shaft being open at the bottom whereby oil trapped by the ribs and flowing downwardly through thesaid hollow shaft drips to the oil receptacle.

6. In a rotary gas and oil-separator, a closed housing having an oil receptacle at the bottom with an outlet for oil, an outlet for gas at the .top and an intake for a mixture of oil and gas positioned above the oil receptacle, a vertical tubular shaft mounted in suitable journals; the combination of impeller means mounted on the shaft and positioned to receive the impact iiow of the oil and gas mixture and thereby form a rotor rotating .the impellers and the said shaft, the impellers being constructed and adapted for the separation of gas and oil and there being a space between the periphery of the impeller means and the housing for discharge of oil by centrifugal force, there being clear spaces for the downward flow of oil and the upward flow of gas, a brake assembly mounted on a fixed structure as to the housing and having an operating connection to the hollow shaft with an actuating means for the brake extending outside of the said housing whereby the speed of rotation of the shaft may be regulated.

7. In a rotary gas and oil separator, a closed housing having an outlet for gas at the top, an oil receiving receptacle adjacent the bottom and an intake for a mixture of oil and gas positioned above the oil receptacle, a vertical shaft in the housing having lower and upper bearings co-nnected to the housing, the combination of a rotor including gas impeller vanes connected to the shaft and positioned to receive at least part of the inow of gas and the iow of gas directed upwardly in the housing, the said vanes being inclined in reference to a vertical radial plane to direct the flow of gas upwardly, there being an open space above the rotor to accommodate an upward stream of flowing gas, there also being a space for collection of oil separated from the gas by the vanes of the rotor whereby such oil may drip to the oil receptacle, theN said shaft being hollow and open at the bottom, the gas impeller vanes having a series of radial ns attached thereto, a shell secured to the peripheral edges of the vanes, the iins terminating spaced from the said shell whereby oil may collect on the inside of the shell beyond the said ilns and thereby drip downwardly to the oil receptacle.

8. In a rotary gas and'oil separator having a closed housing with an outlet for gas at the top,

l an oil receptacle adjacent the bottom with an outlet, an inlet vfor a mixture of oil and gas travelling at a relatively high velocity positioned above the oil receptacle, a vertical shaft journalled in the housing combined with a rotor having impeller buckets secured to such shaft and positioned to be driven by the kinetic energy of the inowing oil and gas, the impeller buckets being constructed and adapted to carry a proportion of the oil and gas in a rotary motion after the absorption of the kinetic energy and develop a centrifugal discharge-force of the oil, there being a space outside of the impeller buckets for the centrifugal discharge of the oil with a connection to the oil receptacle at the bottom of the housing, a second impeller with vanes connected to the shaft and positioned above the rst impeller bucket to receive and act upon gas flowing upwardly to develop a positive upward flow of the gas and hence produce a higher relative pressure of the gas in the upper part of the housing than in the lower` part, the second impeller vanes having a rotary confined stmoture attached thereto restraining the oil separated from the gas from outward discharge by centrifugal force, the said shaft being hollow and having ports for entry of said separated oil, the shaft having an open passage leading to the oil receptacle.

9. AIn a rotary gas and oil separator having a closed structure with an outlet for gas at the `itop, an oil receptacle adjacent the bottom with an outlet, an inlet for a mixture of oil and gas travelling at a relatively high velocity positioned above the oil receptacle, a vertical shaft journalled in the housing combined with a rotor driven by the oil and gas due to its kinetic energy and having means to separate a large proportion of the oil from the gas and to develop a positive upward movement of the gas creating a differential relatively high pressure of the gas 

